My daughter's group at church was having a discussion of the gospel, seeking to put it into only a few simple words. Taking what was said there and thinking my own thoughts as well, it comes out about like this:
The Simple Gospel:
God loves us.
But we screwed up.
God took responsibility for our mistake.
And Jesus fixed the whole thing.
That's grace in a nutshell!
We got into a mess, and Jesus got us out.
Thank You, Lord!